What is the Belsnickel? Why is it part of a Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas?

The Belsnickel is a loud, cantankerous guy, dressed in furs and carrying a bundle of birch switches, who visits children in the weeks before Christmas, asking whether they’ve been nice or naughty in the preceding year.

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Marcus Schneck, mschneck@pennlive.com

He’s a creature of folklore from the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany, brought to America by German immigrants, who became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. The figure has persisted in the Pennsylvania Dutch regions of the U.S. and spread a bit into the wider culture, particularly with organizations celebrating the rural lifestyle at Christmastime.

(The Belsnickel shown here appeared at annual Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas program, Christmas on the Farm, at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University in Berks County.)

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The Belsnickel originated in the various companions and servants of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) in the folklore of German-speaking Europe. Among them is Knecht Ruprecht.

He’s also is known as Kriskinkle, Beltznickle, Pelsnichol, and sometimes as the Christmas woman.

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Julia Hatmaker, jhatmaker@pennlive.com

Some see the Belsnickel as an amalgamation of the forgiving, gift-giving Saint Nicholas and Krampus, a horned, half-goat half-demon, who during the Christmas season punishes children who have misbehaved.

(The Belsnickel shown here, portrayed by Amy Shea, is one of four at Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum in Lancaster.)

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Some see the Belsnickel as an amalgamation of the forgiving, gift-giving Saint Nicholas and Krampus, a horned, half-goat half-demon, who during the Christmas season punishes children who have misbehaved.

The name Belsnickel is a compilation of the German word “bels,” which translates into fur, and “nickel,” which refers to St. Nicholas.

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Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com

He dresses in torn, tattered and dirty clothes topped with a cloak of assorted furs, sometimes adorned with bits of foliage, deer antlers and other natural decorations. Atop a head framed by long, tangled hair and a scraggly beard, he wears a cap of furs and more deer antlers. He often wears a scary mask.

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Randy Traini

Unlike his predecessors, the Belsnickel doesn’t make the rounds with Santa. Instead, he visits the homes of children throughout the community on his own.

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Julia Hatmaker, jhatmaker@pennlive.com

The first hint of his approach is the tapping on the outside of the windows by the switches carried by the Belsnickle as he slips through the darkness just outside the house. Then, suddenly, the door bursts open and he rushes into the house, instantly menacing the children with his gravelly voice, jerky movements and probing questions.

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Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com

He quizzes the children on their relative naughtiness or niceness. Have they been nice toward their brothers and sisters? Have they done their chores without complaint? Have they been respectful of their elders? Have they cleaned their rooms? What was something they did that was nice?

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Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com

The children who can’t attest to their niceness are worried with the threat of a swat or two with the bundle of birch switches that the Belsnickel carries in one hand. On the other hand, those who felt confident in recounting their good acts could expect some treats from the bag the Belsnickel clutched in his other hand. Those treats generally included small cakes, candies and nuts.

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Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com

In their book, “Christmas in Pennsylvania: A Folk Cultural Study,” Alfred Shoemaker and Don Yoder described a visit from the Belsnickel:

“The annual visitor would make his appearance some hours after dark, thoroughly disguised, especially the face, which would sometimes be covered with a hideously ugly phiz - generally wore a female garb - hence the name Christmas woman - sometimes it would be a veritable woman but with masculine force and action.

“He or she would be equipped with an ample sack about the shoulders filled with cakes, nuts, and fruits, and a long hazel switch which was supposed to have some kind of a charm in it as well as a sting. One would scatter the goodies upon the floor, and then the scramble would begin by the delighted children, and the other hand would ply the switch upon the backs of the excited youngsters - who would not show a wince, but had it been parental discipline there would have been screams to reach a long distance.”

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The Belsnickel – actually character Dwight Schrute dressed as the Belsnickel – made an appearance in the long-running workplace comedy, “The Office.” In episode 9 of season 9 of the Scranton-based sitcom, titled “Dwight Christmas,” which first aired in 2012, Dwight included the Belsnickel in a Pennsylvania Dutch-themed Christmas party he planned but never pulled off for the office.

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Some Pennsylvania microbreweries have adopted the Belsnickel as the name for a Christmas beer. Stoudt’s Brewing Company in Adamstown has its Brewer’s Reserve Belsnickel Lager, while Otto’s Pub and Brewery in State College brews a Belsnickel ale.

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John Neill appears to have borrowed a variation on the name – Bell-snickle – in "The Scalawagons of Oz" a book he wrote and illustrated for the Oz series in 1941. The antagonist for the 35th book in the Oz series, which grew from the original works by L. Frank Baum, is named Bell-snickle." Neill described the character as "a large bluish-green object, flat as a buckwheat cake, and rolling along on its edge like a cartwheel," and wearing bells on its ears.

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Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com

The Belsnickel is one part of the annual Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas program, Christmas on the Farm, at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University in Berks County.